Make a meal out of this Jicama salad. (pronounced hee-kama, a crispy, sweet, Central American tuber that looks like a turnip)

It is very low in calories and also low on the glycemic index. It is also a nutritional powerhouse! It promotes good bacteria growth that maintains a healthy colon and balanced immunity. It zaps free radicals and protects against inflammation, viral cough, cold and infections. It contains folates, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, thiamine and the minerals magnesium, copper, iron and manganese. If that was not enough, it is also high in inulin, which I consider the best fiber, because it promotes bone health, has no calories and doesn't metabolize in the body, which helps to lose weight.

Recipe:

all fruit and veggie ingredients julienned, also all organic, if possible

Peel 1 large jicama

1 mango

1 apple or pear

1 red bell pepper

3 or 4 green onions chopped up

1/4 cup honey

juice from 2 limes (or lemons)

a tsp. sea salt

cilantro to taste

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or I jalapeno thin sliced without seeds.

Mix ingredients and set in fridge for at least 30 minutes to meld flavors

Here is another really simple Jicama recipe...

Peel and slice thin 1 jicama and fry in organic coconut oil on medium heat... ready when brown around the edges. Do not let oil get hot enough to smoke. It is a great side dish or for a sweet and chewy low calorie snack .

Dr Jonny Bowden (The rogue nutritionist) offers the following advice...

7 Do's and Don'ts for Triggering Lean Body Response

In an ideal world, your body was designed to balance energy intake (calories) with energy needs. When this happens, obesity is as rare as a three-legged frog.

Unfortunately we live in a world very far from ideal. Out-of-control hormones, appetite dysregulation, the abundance of available food, and a decidedly toxic environment all conspire to keep your fat storage switch permanently in the "on" position while sending your fat-burning switch to the proverbial bench.

The obesity response—fat storage—needs to be disempowered, while your LBR (lean body response) needs to be primed.

Here are seven "do's and don'ts" for achieving just that.

1. DON'T: Raise your Insulin!

Insulin is your body's fat storing hormone and the last thing you want is to turn it on full blast. Yet that's exactly what high glycemic carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes, breads, cereals and plain old sugar) do.

We need insulin to survive, but too much of it locks the doors to the fat cells, making fat burning next-to-impossible.

You can drop your insulin levels neatly into "the zone" by eliminating sugar and processed carbs, and loading up on protein, fat and vegetables.

2. DO: Lower your cortisol!

The other major hormone in the fat loss playbook is cortisol, the major stress hormone released by the adrenal glands.

A blast of cortisol will get you out of an emergency—in fact it will save your life—but the poison is in the dose.

Constant stress turns on the cortisol response like a turbo-charger and the result is excess belly fat, the breakdown of muscle (which slows the metabolic rate) and, ultimately, a metabolic "course correction" that winds up increasing insulin even more.

Don't ignore stress- find ways to manage it.

3. DON'T: Eat after 8 PM!

Though conventional dietitians will tell you it doesn't matter when you eat, they're dead wrong as usual.

(These are the same folks still peddling the wildly out-of-date BS about a calorie being just a calorie.)

In one study at Penn State mice got fat eating the same number of calories as mice that didn't when the researchers fed them at a time when they should have been sleeping (i.e. at night).

"Your body is more prone to burn fat at certain times of day and store fat at other times", Satchin Panda, associate professor in the Regulatory Biology Lab at the Salk Institute told Fox News.

To burn the most fat try going 12 hours without food, like between 8 PM and 8 AM. "(That) should give your body enough time to burn all of the stored glycogen plus some fat every night", says Panda.

4. DON'T: Snack!

You may have heard the old "gym wisdom" that it's best to eat like a grazer, snacking every two to three hours, eating the equivalent of five to six "mini-meals" a day.

Au contraire.

"If you snack just as your insulin blood level is decreasing, it will promptly rise, even if you have a good snack such as fruit and nuts", says Eduardo Castro, MD, a specialist in fat loss resistance syndrome (FLRS).

"Would you rather have a few hours of making and storing fat (after a meal) followed by a few more hours of the same? Or a few hours of making and storing fat followed by a few hours of not making fat and burning it for energy?"

5. DO: A detox!

There's been increasing concern in the health press about the ability of chemicals in the environment to trigger weight gain. And with good reason.

Chemicals like DDE creates extra fat cells even when a baby is still in the womb.

* note: DDE is a DDT byproduct which was banned back in the 70's. Unfortunately, imported fruit and vegetables may still contain this dangerous chemical.

Eat an apple 30 minutes before every meal, or at least before lunch and dinner.

Here's why: An apple—in addition to being one of nature's most healthy foods—is a natural weight loss aid. It's mostly water, it has a high amount of fiber (which slows the rate at which sugar enters the bloodstream), and it's what's known in nutrition as a "high-volume" food, meaning it takes up a lot of space in the tummy while providing relatively few calories.

It's remarkable how much of a natural appetite suppressor an apple can be.

* warning about apples. If you have ever raised apples, you know bugs, mold and blight love them. So they are heavily sprayed with pesticides. Washing does not remove all of the dangerous chemicals used. Raise your own and use safe pest control methods or buy organic.

7. DO: Eat nuts! (tree nuts)

Nuts are another food that used to be demonized by the diet dictocrats for their high fat and calorie content, but once again the conventional wisdom was about as accurate as an astrology reading from Cosmo magazine.

Some of the largest and most important long-term studies such as the Nurses' Health Study, the Iowa Women's Health Study, and the Adventist Study have shown a consistent 30-50 percent lower risk of heart disease associated with eating nuts several times a week.

Equally important for our purposes is the fact that nuts are a weight management tool. Research consistently shows that eating nuts is not associated with weight gain, and that nut eaters may actually have lower BMIs than those who don't eat them regularly.

Nuts are also incredibly satiating, leading to less overeating. "Studies show that eating nuts.. has positive effects on the metabolism"."Some studies show that nuts can raise the metabolic rate by more than 10%."

These seven "do's and don'ts" will help move your fat-burning switch towards the "on" position, and help prevent your fat storage mechanisms from having a party at the expense of your waistline. Try 'em. I'm sure you'll like the results.

Eat Organic

Too expensive, you say. Consider the following.

I heard an interview with a young college student about health care. He was asked if he had health insurance. He said "no". Then he was asked what he would do if he got sick. He said, slowly..."I don't get sick; I eat an apple a day to maintain good health" The interviewers burst into laughter, thinking how naive this young student was. Now, not to say the student was entirely correct but he was closer than you might think. Prevention should be at the forefront of everyone's plan to stay healthy. One of the best ways to prevent disease is to eat all organic. Again, you say...too expensive. Yet, many people will pay $1000 a month for health insurance, but are reluctant to spend as much as $200 a month to prevent disease with a healthy diet. I suppose part of the reason is, they are not convinced that diet is that important a factor in remaining healthy. The fact is, however, that food and drink are positively the bulk of what goes into your body. It makes absolutely good sense that it is the number one contributing factor to your health. As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine". If it was known back in his day that food was the source of good health, how is it that establishment medicine has been ignoring it's impact for decades? Anyway, back to the point of this article...expensive organic food. There are several ways you can eat organic foods without breaking the bank.

#1 Buy most of your meat and produce at local farmer's markets. Ask them...

if they use pesticides or are their eggs from free range chickens. Is their beef grass fed?, etc. Their prices are often very close to the same as supermarket prices, where your purchases are processed, contaminated with pesticdes, herbicides, hormones, preservatives and chemical pseudo-foods. Organic foods are naturally more satisfying and do not contain chemical flavor enhansers to make you want to eat more. So eating less, as a result, will reduce your food costs.

#3 Shop for best prices and quality. Cheap food is not a bargain. You are worth the investment of quality food resulting in good health. Aren't you? Be chintzy on something else, not your food. Try the http://greenpolkadotbox.com or iherb.com for pretty reasonable prices.

#4 Raise your own organic food. Seefoodrising.org for a way to raise your own nutritious food without soil, electricity or a garden. No weeding and very little expense. Produce your own non-GMO food for pennies on the dollar. This method is truly revolutionary!

*Consider that most fruit and vegetables offer the maximum nutrition when eaten raw.

*Use a toaster oven instead of a microwave. (microwaves destroy enzymes, which break down food to make it digestable and properly supply nutrients to your body)

*Common cooking practices, such as outdoor grilling, which often results in overcooking and burnt hotdogs, meats, etc. are harmful to your health. All burnt food is carcinogenic, some more than others, but all bad.